Landscape Architecture
Administered by the Department of Landscape Architecture
The Masters of Natural Resources offered through the Department of Landscape Architecture is a dual degree program. This is a non-thesis professional degree program. Students who complete all courses required for the technical option will receive a Master of Landscape Architecture and the Natural Resources Landscape Architecture with the Technical Option, curriculum code (NRD). No previous LAR degree is required.
The complexity of contemporary land issues, the intensity of landscape architectural decisions, and the need to master more advanced methods in research and interpretation of statistical data requires the use of advanced tools of landscape architecture in physical planning. In fact, many academic institutions have adopted the title “Land Planning and Design” to describe the profession, rather than landscape architecture. Many students who received their first professional degree in landscape architecture apply to Master of Planning programs as their choice for an advanced degree for the reasons mentioned above. The Master of Natural Resources option, is intended to help in advancing physical planning decision making and translating planning objectives into reality.
Job Opportunities
Students who are interested in becoming physical planners in municipalities, federal government, park and recreation planning as well as housing development and transportation planning will require a first professional degree in landscape architecture and are primary candidates for this second degree in the natural resources.
Faculty Contacts
- Gene Bressler, gene_bressler@ncsu.edu, 919.515.8342
- Fernando Magallanes , f_magallanes@ncsu.edu, 919.515.8348
Curriculum
Prerequisites
No previous design background required but must be admitted into the LAR program before applying to the NR curriculum.
Master of Natural Resources Core Curriculum (required)
| Course | Description | Credit Hours | |
| NR 500 | Natural Resource Management | 3 | |
| NR 571 | Current Issues in Natural Resource Policy | 3 | |
| ST 5** | A graduate level statistics course | 3 | |
| NR 601 | NR Graduate Seminar (or equivalent seminar course) | 1 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 10 |
*PRT 462, Introduction to GIS, and a botany course, such as plant identification, will be strongly recommended for these 6 credits.
Natural Resources – Landscape Architecture Technical Option (NRD)
Track 1 Option: For students who do not have an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture.
| Course | Description | Credit Hours | |
| LAR *** | LAR Graduate Level Design Studios | 36 | |
| LAR *** | LAR History, Theory, and Criticism | 12 | |
| LAR *** | LAR Ecology and Design | 3 | |
| LAR *** | Site Works | 15 | |
| LAR *** | Design Communication | 6 | |
| LAR *** | Professional Practice | 3 | |
| 75 from Landscape Architecture technical option (including seminar) plus 16 from NR Core = 91 | Total Credit Hours | 91 |
*** These courses are in the process of being re-numbered and updated. Actual course numbers not yet assigned. Advising establishes the LAR coursework.
Additional Courses/Requirements
- LAR 697 Master’s Thesis Research and LAR 679 Master’s Final Project (up to 6 credit hours)
- Additional courses as specified by the student’s advisory committee.
Technical Option Electives
Determined individually through advising with student.
Total Credit Hours Track 1 Option
91 Credit Hours First Professional MLA-NRD Degree. Beginning Fall 2008
Natural Resources – Landscape Architecture Technical Option (NRD)
Track 2 Option: For students who have an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture.
| Course | Description | Credit Hours | |
| LAR *** | LAR Graduate Level Design Studios | 18 | |
| LAR *** | Advised Elective | 15 | |
| LAR *** | LAR Strategic Thinking | 3 | |
| LAR *** | LAR Final Project and Research | 9 | |
| 45 from Landscape Architecture technical option (including seminar) plus 16 from NR Core = 61 | Total Credit Hours | 61 |
*** These courses are in the process of being re-numbered and updated. Actual course numbers not yet assigned. Advising establishes the LAR coursework.
Additional Courses/Requirements
- LAR 697 Master’s Thesis Research and LAR 679 Master’s Final Project (up to 6 credit hours)
- Additional courses as specified by the student’s advisory committee.
Technical Option Electives
Determined individually through advising with student.
Total Credit Hours Track 2 Option
61 Credit Hours Advanced Professional MLA-NRD Degree.
Projects
Recent Project Titles:
- Harmony Miller. Facilitating Water Quality Improvements Through Riparian Corridors on Rural Lands. 2007.
- W. Stephanie Richardson. Searching for the Common Ground Between New Urbanism and Fire-Related Defensible Space. 2006
- Bridget M. Brock. Eco-Resorts:How Ecotourism is Changing the Face of Resort Design. 2006